Business. Communications. Social Media. Strategy. | Daria Steigman | Steigman Communications, LLC
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One of my favorite reasons for attending a conference is the opportunity to meet new people and expand my community.
At last week’s GrowSmartBiz conference, Washington Business Journal’s Alex Orfinger asked for a show of hands as to who sat with someone they didn’t know at lunch. About two-thirds of the hands went up.
What were the rest of the people doing there?
Photo by The Shifted Librarian (Flickr).
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[Note: This post originally appeared on IABC's Communications World blog.]
I love that there’s an iPhone app that lets you exchange contact information just by bumping phones. But does this mean that business cards are becoming obsolete?
Business cards speak to me, especially when it comes to small businesses and solo practitioners. The paper, logo, design, and readability give me clues to a company’s personality and whether they have thought about that first impression. Whether someone does or doesn’t have a Web site and/or a customized e-mail address gives me some data about their permanence and their business sense. And please think twice before handing me a card with out-of-date information.
The Japanese have an entire ritual around business cards. While Americans are typically more informal, we might do well to probe the underlying reasons for the meishi exchange.
So what do you think? Do you decipher business cards or wish they’d go away?
On a related note, my friend Deborah Brody has a good post on business card dos and don’ts that has some common sense tips for making sure what you are handing out isn’t hindering your success.
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Sometimes it’s useful to have a simple screening process.
Today I want to thank all the people who:
Thanks for giving me a quick heads up that I should henceforth spend my time and social capital helping someone else.
What about you? What’s in your screening criteria?
Photo by alexik. Flickr. Creative Commons License.
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So you’re at a networking event, and someone comes up to you, introduces themselves, and immediately asks for your business card. What’s your first impression?
Mine: oh, oh, someone is about to try to sell me something. Why? Because they haven’t even bothered to chat me up first.
This happened again recently, and I left compelled to tell the person I didn’t need her services. I then shifted the conversation to something substantive and wholly unrelated to my business.
Flash forward one week, and I finally find out who has called and hung up three times without leaving a message. Because, time #4, I’m in my office. It is her assistant calling to see if she can set up a “one-on-one meeting” for the two of us. Uh… No.
Sales may be a numbers game, but business is about people.
Photo by timparkinson. Flickr Creative Commons License.
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[Note: This post originally appeared on IABC's Communications World blog, along with some great discussion in the comments.]
If you’re like me, you attend a lot of networking events. Which means you’ve probably seen some people with great skills, and a few whose tactics and approach are all wrong. I know you’ve encountered them–that guy (or gal), the one you smile at politely and then make a mental note to toss his business card in the trash when you get home.
Here are the seven deadly sins of networking:
Have I left anything out? What networking sins have you seen?
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